Work on the Peacock Library has begun in earnest. After some spirited discussion about colors, we settled on paints. Friday after work I met up with the family and took some last measurements, made some last plans, and moved a few things into the garage. On the way home I went to Home Despot for supplies. The real work started early Saturday morning. I got there by 7:30 to meet an exterminator to get an estimate. I keep referring to exterminators as terminators, which I think is also fine and fair.

While I was waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive, I replaced the showerhead in the main bathroom with one I'd picked out the night before. I also replaced the light bulbs that were out with new LEDs, including the two in Professor Peacock, which involved balancing precariously at the very top of a ladder. While alone in the house. Thankfully I didn't fall. Saturday we spent a sold 12 hours priming and painting, covering the living room's sort of avocado color with something approximately the color of marshmallow fluff. We also put that in the hallway, the guest room, and the baby's room. We primed the dining room, which was previously a dark burgundy. That was a long day painting, but help from friends and family made it doable.

We reconvened early Sunday. We had more help that day, with Justine and Dan turning up, and eventually Aegon Blutarsky. I spent most of the day running back and forth to Home Depot, but I also repaired the seal on the toilet in the main bathroom (an unpleasant task) as well as getting a new dryer and washing machine ordered, and paint colors that are well complemented by the carpets. The living room has a contrast wall of a very dark blue, while the dining room is "peacock feathers" in color. A happy accident of the blue in the dining room is that the recessed lighting and barrel-vaulted ceilings change the shade of blue very dramatically, so it looks like the sky in late afternoon - dark at the base, light up high and very light near the top. It's hard to describe, but striking in person.

Eowyn loves clambering around on the rolled up carpets, and scooting across the hardwood floors while we work. She's not-quite walking, but if you hold her hands she can take awkward foal-steps. Meanwhile, back in Venice, she'll clamber up the couch and crawl up and onto the now-empty bookshelves, about head high. She is a ridiculous monkey.

I noticed that most of the businesses in my new neighborhood are cash-only. That and the dearth of services that are available draw a pretty stark contrast between upscale and racially integrated Venice and the primarily non-white neighborhood to which we're moving. Go into Wholefoods in Venice, and you'll see nothing but white people, basically. I think the only black guy I've seen in there was Karl Weathers. Go into Wholefoods in Windsor Hills and....well, ha ha, there's no Wholefoods in Windsor Hills. No Verizon FiOs, no bank, no trendy restaurants, either. Which is ridiculous, because it's both a safe and prosperous neighborhood, with the highest concentration of wealthy African-Americans in the country.

This week the terminator will clear the house, and next week the floors will be refinished. Then we'll start moving in in earnest. I'm impatient to be there, frankly, though I know training Eowyn to sleep in her own room will be difficult and no doubt painful at first. But not waking up to find her burrowing into my armpit, and me chased all the way to the edge of the bed will be a welcome treat.